Even the Darkest Night will End
by Beckyhelene
Summary: Chapter five is up. Kira goes for a walk and reminices.
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I only own Cadence McKnight, Maureen and Amos Lawrence, Nadine Banks and Chuck Williams. Everyone else is property of Disney.

Note: Sequel to 'Go be with the girl you love' but it can be read on its own.

Summary/Background: Ten years after the prom. Everyone's off living their lives. Ethan works for a computer company in San Francisco, Trent is an artist and gallery owner in New York, Kira a professional singer/songwriter and producer in Los Angeles, Tommy still teaching science at Reefside High and Conner is working as the gym teacher along with him in Reefside. Cassidy is an anchorwoman on a prime time news program in New York and Devin's her producer. Ethan is married to one of his co-workers, Maryann and they're expecting their first child. Trent hasn't settled down yet. Kira has dated here and there but has devoted her time to her work. A year after the others graduated, Tommy and Kimberly saw each other at Adam and Tanya's wedding. A year after that, they were married. Conner and Krista have now been married for seven years and have a five year old daughter, Cadence. Cassidy and Devin have been married for five years.

A tragedy occurs, summoning Trent, Ethan, Devin, Cassidy and Kira back home.

-

"Nadine, that was perfect." Kira said. She sat on the outside of the sound booth as one of her protégés, Nadine Banks, recorded her latest album. Kira's production assistant, Chuck Williams gave the young singer thumbs up, agreeing with Kira. Nadine smiled.

"Thanks." She said.

"How about me take a fifteen minute break?" Kira suggested to Chuck.

"Sounds good." He said. Nadine set her guitar down and came out of the sound booth.

"Kira, my throat's still feeling a little raw, what should I do?" She asked.

"Have you been seeing that voice coach I sent you to?" Kira asked. Nadine nodded. "Okay." She looked at Chuck. "Could you take her to that diner across the street and get her some tea with lemon and honey?" She asked.

"Sure thing." He said. He put a hand on Nadine's shoulder and led her out the door as the two left. Kira pulled her hair back behind her ear and walked out of the room. She walked to her office and sat down. Ever since she had taken the leap from being just a singer to singer and producer after her record company let her start her own label as a subsidiary label she had been receiving demos from artists and bands who hoped she would sign her. She sighed as she sat down at her desk and looked at the small pile of tapes and CDs that sat there. She picked up a tape about to give a listen to it when there was a knock on her door.

"Come in." She said. The door opened and in walked Kira's assistant, Maureen Lawrence. Kira gave her a smile. "Hey Maureen." She said.

"Hey Ms. For-"

"Maureen, what did I tell you? Call me Kira." She said. Maureen gave her boss a sheepish look.

"Right, sorry. Uh, Kira, there's a phone call for you on line three." She said.

"All right, thanks." Kira said as she picked up the receiver. She looked up at Maureen.

"By the way, how's little Amos? Does he still have that ear infection?" Kira asked, referring to Maureen's two year old son. Maureen shook her head.

"No, those drops the doctor prescribed us really worked." She said. Kira smiled.

"That's great." She said. Maureen smiled and quietly left the office. Kira pressed the button to the third line, receiving the call. "Kira Ford, Ptera records, how may I help you?" She asked.

"Kira." Came a familiar voice. Kira smiled.

"Ethan! Hey, how are you?" She asked. "How's Marya-"

"Kira." Ethan said, cutting her off. His voice sounded solemn.

"What's wrong?" She asked. "Did something happen to the baby?" She asked.

"No. Maryann and the baby are fine. It's Conner." He said. Kira blinked, surprised. After the prom ten years ago Kira had kept very minimal contact with Conner. She even made an excuse to miss Conner and Krista's wedding because she couldn't bear seeing them. She still loved Conner and seeing him marry another woman would've been too much.

"What? What's wrong?" She asked. Ethan sighed.

"Dr. O just gave me a call. We need to get back to Reefside."

"What? Why? Is Conner all right?" Kira asked, her tone close to frantic. So many awful scenarios played in her head. Did something happen to Conner? Was he hurt? Was he dead? The last possibility filled her heart with dread and regret. If Conner was dead, Kira felt awful for hardly speaking to him for the last ten years.

"Krista's dead." Ethan said, his voice ripping through her thoughts.


	2. Regretful Memories

Disclaimer: I only own Cadence McKnight, Maureen and Amos Lawrence, Nadine Banks and Chuck Williams. Everyone else is property of Disney.

Note: Sequel to 'Go be with the girl you love' but it can be read on its own.

-

Kira held the phone to her ear, unable to speak.

"Kira? Are you still there?" Ethan asked. Kira took in a trembling breath.

"Yeah, I'm here." She said softly. "Wh-What do you mean, she's dead?" Kira asked. Ethan sighed.

"Krista had been battling cancer for two years." He said. Kira looked down, feeling terrible. She should've known this, should've been there for Conner, but in her depression and sadness of Conner picking Krista over her made her isolate herself from him and anything that involved him. When she had gone to Tommy and Kimberly's wedding, Ethan's wedding and Cassidy and Devin's wedding, she had seen Conner and Krista there and had been able to carefully maneuver herself so that they didn't see her or come and speak to her. When she had gone to San Francisco for Ethan's wedding, she even saw them with their then one year old little girl and her heart almost broke seeing as she didn't even know that Krista had been pregnant. The others knew about how Kira felt and all though they tried to keep her up to date with Conner, she'd refuse to listen, and now she wished she had. "The doctor's thought it had gone away because she seemed to be fine after her last round of chemo." Ethan continued. "But a month ago it came back apparently."

"Wh-" Kira began to say, but her voice came out sounding horse. She cleared her throat. "When did she die?" She asked.

"Last night." Ethan replied. "Kira, I know you have this whole aversion to Conner, but he needs us now. All of us."

"No." Kira said. "I mean, no, yeah you're right. I……." She took a deep breath. "I'll uh tell the folks at the office that I'll need a leave of absence." She said.

"All right. Do you want me to come by your place tomorrow and we'll go together?" He asked.

"Yeah, that……that sounds fine." Kira said. She numbly said goodbye and hung up. Kira leaned back in her chair and stared at her desk, unsure how to feel. She was sad, of course. Krista was a good person, even though Kira tried to hate her because of what happened, she couldn't. Krista was a decent human being. She wanted to be there for Conner. But she also felt some other confused emotion. The wife of the love of her life was dea……._Stop it! _She mentally scolded herself. _How dare you even think that? How can you even think about getting joy from Krista's death? She was Conner's wife! And they had a daughter……….You are sick, sick sick sick sick. _Kira took a deep breath and shakingly leaned forward. She sighed and realized the fifteen minute break she called was nearing to an end. She stood up on shaky legs and made herself walk down the hall to the recording studio. She found Chuck and Nadine sitting inside. Nadine was laughing at something Chuck had just said. They both looked up at her.

"Kira?" Nadine asked, noticing the lost look on her face. Chuck stood up and went over to her.

"Everything all right, boss?" He asked. Kira blinked and looked at him.

"I……I need you to finish Nadine's album for me." She said.

"Something wrong?" Chuck asked. Kira sighed. He led her to the seat he had just vacated. Kira sat down.

"I just got a call from a friend….." She said softly. "He told me another friend of ours just lost his wife." She said. "I…..I have to go back home…" She said, her voice sounding distant. Chuck and Nadine shared surprised looks before coming closer to her.

"Are you okay? Do you need anything?" Chuck asked. Kira shook her head.

"I…..I'm just going to take a leave of absence so I can go back to Reefside." She said. Nadine reached over and took Kira's hand.

"Don't worry about the album; we can wait until things settle." Nadine said. Kira shook her head.

"No, Wild Domestic gave us a deadline for the album." Kira said, referring to the record company that she was signed to and were the heads of her own label, Ptera records. Since this was Kira's first artist on her label, the company was a little strict and even set a time for when the album should be finished and released.

"We'll talk to them, explain that there's extenuating circumstances." Chuck said. Kira sighed. She squeezed Chuck's hand.

"It's okay. Chuck, I trust you. I know Nadine's in good hands with you." She said. She sighed and got up. "I'm going to go up and tell the folks up at WD that I have to take a leave of absence then I'm going to go home."

"When are you heading back to Reefside?" Chuck asked.

"Tomorrow." Kira said. Both Nadine and Chuck got up and hugged her, Nadine promising Kira she'd call her later that night to see if she was all right. Kira appreciated their concern and left. She spoke to the execs in Wild Domestic, who understood. She told them to not worry about the album for she had left it in good hands. They told her to not worry and extended the deadline by a month, allowing Kira at least two weeks to not be worried. Kira thanked them before leaving. She returned to her own office, grabbed her messenger bag and left the office, giving a goodbye to Maureen as she left. Later that night, Kira sat in the living room of her large house watching a small fire flicker and sway in the fireplace. She slowly drank a glass of red wine. As the flame flickered, it reminded her of the last time she spoke to Krista. It was the after graduation bonfire at the beach. Everyone was there.

**_Kira slowly walked along the beach, observing her former classmates partying it up. She gave false friendly smiles to acquaintances as they passed her by. She sighed as she went over to the keg and got herself a cup of beer. She was still depressed from what happened at prom night, and it didn't help seeing Conner and Krista sitting together on a log and were being completely loving. That one cup soon became another and another, until the former yellow ranger was several sheets to the wind, stumbling about and giggling. She became very sociable, dancing around with people she would usually never speak to. Conner, Krista, Ethan, Trent, Cassidy and Devin sat by and watched as she danced provocatively with Derek, one of the guys on the soccer team with Conner. (Author note: the guy who was being really mean to Ethan in Bully for Ethan…) Derek didn't seem to mind that the young singer who normally didn't speak to him was pressed up against him, her hips gyrating against his. Unfortunately, Kira's friends did mind._**

"**_Someone should go talk to her." Conner said. Cassidy looked at him. The others knew about what had happened between him and Kira, simply because after the prom Kira avoided him like the plague and after interrogating the former red ranger, Ethan found out and shared it with the others. _**

"**_I'll go." Cassidy offered. She slid Devin's arm off her shoulders and approached the other two. "Kira." She said softly. Kira stopped her dance and looked over. She had a huge smile on her face as she stepped away from Derek._**

"**_Cassidy!" She said. She skipped over and threw her arms around the blonde's shoulders, hugging her tightly. "My friend!" She exclaimed. "I love you!" She said before planting a wet kiss on Cassidy's cheek. Cassidy cringed as she got a whiff of beer breath._**

"**_God, you're hammered." Cassidy said, pushing Kira back gently. Derek laughed._**

"**_Not yet she isn't." He said, his crude sexual joke not lost on Cassidy. Kira laughed hysterically._**

"**_Oh my god, you are sooooooooo funny!" Kira said. Derek grinned and went over to her. Cassidy got between them and pushed Derek back._**

"**_Back off Testosterone boy." She said. Derek glared at her before shrugging and walking away. Cassidy sighed and looked at her._**

"_**How about you come sit with us?" She asked. She took Kira's hand and began to lead her back to the others. When they were within inches, Kira scoffed and snatched her hand away.**_

"_**No thanks." She said. She looked at Conner and Krista. "Rather not sit with the dumb love birds." She spat out. Krista looked down, Conner sighed. Trent, Ethan and Devin looked from the couple to Kira. **_

"_**O..Oh Okay, how about we got sit somewhere else?" Cassidy offered, putting a hand on Kira's shoulder. "Just you and me, and we can talk." She said. Kira looked at her.**_

"_**Talk? As if. You and I aren't friends. The only reason you're here is because-" Ethan's eyes widened and he jumped up, going over to her.**_

"_**Because we value your company." Ethan said quickly, cutting her off, knowing Kira was about to say that Cassidy knew their secret, which would only result in Krista wanting to know what said secret was. He took Kira in his arms. "How about you take Cass up on her offer before you do something you'll regret?" He said lowly to her. **_

"_**Bite me." Kira said. She shoved Ethan away and stumbled off to the woods. Ethan sighed and put a friendly hand on Cassidy's shoulder. **_

"_**Maybe I should go talk to her." Conner said. He began to get up. Krista grabbed his arm.**_

"_**Conner, I think I should talk to her. I'm the one she's really mad at." Krista said.**_

"_**That's probably why it's better that you don't go after her." Devin pointed out. Krista shook her head.**_

"**_It'll be fine." She said. Conner didn't seem convinced. Krista stood up. "Don't worry." She said. She walked off after Kira._**

"_**Something tells me there will be a drunken catfight in the woods." Ethan said, jokingly, trying to lighten the mood. Conner gave him a hard look. **_

"**_Kira?" Krista called as she walked through the woods. She soon came across Kira pressed up against a tree, making out with Derek. She rushed over and shoved Derek away. "Hey!" She said, smacking his shoulder. Derek groaned and looked at her._**

"**_Hey, she's the one who started kissing me." Derek said. _**

"**_She's drunk. If she was sober she'd do what the rest of the female population does-stay far away from you." Krista said. Derek stalked up to her and got in her face. He glared at her for a while before sneering._**

"_**You're lucky you're McKnight's girl." He said. "Because if you weren't I'd-"**_

"**_You'd what?" Krista asked brazenly. Derek stepped back and spat at her feet before walking away. Krista sighed. She turned to Kira._**

"**_What the hell is wrong with you?" Kira demanded. "What, do you just take joy in seeing me alone? I mean first you steal Conner away and now you chase Derek off?" Kira walked deeper into the woods. Krista went after her._**

"**_First of all, Derek's a jerk why would any sane girl want to go near him? Second of all, I didn't steal Conner away from you. I didn't even know you liked him." Kira stopped and spun around to face Krista._**

"_**I didn't like him. I LOVE him." Kira spat out. "And you had to barge in with your environmentalist beliefs and petitions and make him fall for you."**_

"_**I'm sorry you're hurting, really I am." Krista said. "Look, you and Conner are friends and I don't want to harm that." She sighed. "If you want me to just break up with Conner, then I will." She said. "But please, will you just talk to him? He hates the fact that you haven't said two words to him since prom." Kira scoffed.**_

"_**As if you breaking up with him will fix anything." She said. "You sank your claws into him. He loves you."**_

"_**I don't know what to say or do to make this better." Krista sighed. "But I want to make it better. I want-"**_

"**_Will you just shut up?" Kira yelled. "God, no wonder Conner's head over heels for you. You're like this sugar coated tree hugger. It's disgusting." Krista sighed. She knew it was just the beer in Kira that was making her say these things. She didn't know Kira too well, but she knew her well enough to know that she'd never be this mean. _**

"_**You know what, how about we try talking again after you've sobered up a bit, all right?" Krista said. "We can just all go to that diner up the road, get you some coffee, and talk about this like adults, okay?" Krista asked. **_

"**_Why don't you just go back to your boyfriend and leave me alone." Kira said. She sank down to the ground, her back leaning against a tree. Krista went and crouched down in front of her. She went to put a hand on Kira's shoulder._**

"_**GO AWAY!" Kira screamed, startling Krista. Krista stumbled backwards, falling back on her backside. She sighed and stood up, dusting the seat of her jeans.**_

"_**Fine." Krista said softly. She turned and went to walk back to the beach. Kira pulled her knees up to her chest and buried her face in her arms as she cried. **_

"_**I wish you were dead." She said softly, but Krista heard her. She stopped.**_

"_**I'm sorry you feel that way." Krista said before walking away.**_

Kira set her glass of wine down. Her body began to shake from the sobs that came out of her. She curled up on her couch, pulling the afghan that lay neatly on the back of the couch onto her body.


	3. Friend to the Angels

Disclaimer: I only own Cadence McKnight, Maureen and Amos Lawrence, Nadine Banks and Chuck Williams. Everyone else is property of Disney.

Note: Sequel to 'Go be with the girl you love' but it can be read on its own.

Kira awoke the next morning on her couch and looked at her watch. She had two hours to get ready before Ethan came to get her. She slowly got up and began packing some clothes in a duffle bag. She didn't have anything appropriate funeral attire-her only black dress being a thin strap couture dress that she wore to the MTV music video awards the year before-so she had gotten a black skirt and blazer outfit the day before on her way home from the office. She put a gray shirt in the garment bag along with the outfit and a pair of black low heel shoes in a bag. She set them beside the duffle bag on her bed then went to pack some toiletries and other necessities. Since Kira had done traveling and touring before, out of force of habit or perhaps the need to be prepared, she kept a set of travel sized containers of shampoo, conditioner, small bars of soap and a small toothbrush/toothpaste set. She put one set of shampoo and condition, one bar of soap and the toothbrush set in her yellow messenger bag. She then put the bag on her bed as well. After she was done packing, she went down to her kitchen and made herself some breakfast-which consisted of black coffee with two spoons of sugar in it, toast with jelly and two scrambled eggs. After she ate and washed the used dish and mug, she waited for Ethan to arrive. About an hour or so later, her doorbell went off. She opened the door and there stood Ethan.

"Hey." She said, stepping aside to let him in. Ethan walked in.

"I made some reservations at the Reefside Inn for us." Ethan said. "I remembered to use the other name for you." He said. Since Kira had reached such high fame in the past six years, it was impossible to reserve a hotel room under her real name, so she would use her middle name and her mother's maiden name-Tess Shantz.

"Okay." Kira said. "My stuff's upstairs let me go up and get it." She said. Ethan nodded. Kira went up to her room and returned with her bags. Ethan took the duffle bag from her and the two went out to his car. Kira locked her door as Ethan put her duffle bag in the trunk. She walked over and set the garment bag in the trunk and got in the passenger seat. "Maryann's not coming with us?" She asked.

"She said that this was a time for us to sort of be there for Conner, and as she said 'some pregnant woman would just be in the way'." Ethan said.

"Oh." Was all Kira said as Ethan pulled out of her driveway and they set off to Reefside. The three hour trip was consumed in silence as Ethan drove down the highway. Ethan pulled up to Conner's house just as Trent, Cassidy and Devin were climbing out of a cab. Cassidy looked over and saw them.

"Hey." She said gently. The five friends gathered together and gave each other small hugs in greeting. They then walked up the front porch. Devin was closest to the door so he reached out and rang the doorbell. After a few minutes, the door opened to reveal their former science teacher.

"Hey, guys." He said as he stepped aside to let them in, giving each a pat on the back in greating.

"Hey, Dr. O." Trent said. Tommy gave the young artist a smile.

"You guys aren't my students anymore, you can call me Tommy." He said. He had been trying to get them all to get out of the habit of referring to him in such an impersonal matters for years, but it seemed like old habits were hard to break.

"Where's Conner?" Ethan asked.

"In his room, with Cadie." He said, reffering to Conner's five year old daughter, Cadence. Ethan nodded and left the living room, heading to his friend and former teammate's room. The door was slightly ajar. Ethan gently pushed it and saw Conner sitting in his bed holding Cadence to him tightly. Cadence looked up at saw Ethan standing there. A bright smile came across her face as she squirmed out of her father's arms.

"Uncle Ethan!" She exclaimed as she ran to him. Ethan smiled and kneeled down to her as he hugged her.

"Hey there Cadie." He said. After the hug ended he pulled back. "Trent, Cassidy and Devin are downstairs." He said.

"Yay!" She exclaimed. Cadence adored her 'aunt' Cassidy because everytime the blonde came by, she always brought some sort of present for the young McKnight child. She scurried out of the room. Ethan got up to his feet and walked over to Conner, sitting on the edge of his bed. Conner's face was pale, his eyes bloodshot, obvious from hours of crying.

"It hasn't…….Sank in to Cadence yet……..About Krista." Conner said. Ethan looked at his friend. "She didn't……She didn't understand why Krista lost her hair, because of the chemo, or why she was in and out of the hospital or-" Conner trailed off, his chin quivering. Ethan reached over and pulled him into a hug. Conner buried his head in Ethan's shoulder as he sobbed. "She's gone." He bellowed. "Krista's gone and-"

"Shhh, it's okay, buddy, it's okay." Ethan said, trying to sooth him. Downstairs in the living room, Cassidy was holding Cadence on her lap as Devin sat beside her, every so often touching the little girl's hand. Cadence looked at Cassidy.

"Auntie Cassidy, where'd mommy go?" She asked. Cassidy looked at her. She was the spiting image of her bother, soft dark brown hair, full face and dark brown eyes. Cassidy sighed and stroaked the girl's hair. "Daddy was crying earlier on the phone with Uncle Eric, he said mommy was gone."

"I……" Cassidy began, unsure how to explain it to her. Kira, who had been standing by the wall, came over and kneeled in front of her. She took the little girl's hands in her own and looked at her.

"Your mommy had to go up to Heaven." She said in a soft voice.

"Why?" Cadence asked.

"Well, because she was such a nice lady, the angels wanted her to come up and be their friend." Kira said. Cadence tilted her head to the side, looking at Kira.

"Daddy has a picture of you. It's old. You and uncle Ethan and him are in it. What's your name?"

"My name's Kira. I'm a friend of your daddy."

"How come you never came and visited us like everyone else?" She asked. Kira pursed her lips gently. What a loaded question.

"Well, I wanted to." She said. "I wanted to come see you, because your aunt and Uncles told me how cute you were." She said with a smile, pinching the little girl's cheek gently. "But I couldn't find time to come see you."

"Oh." Cadence said. "Are you going to come to visit more now?"

"I'll try." Kira said. Cadence smiled as she hoped off Cassidy's lap. She grabbed Kira's hand.

"Come on, I wanna show you my toys." She said. Kira gave her a smile.

"Okay." She said as she let herself be dragged off by the precocious little thing. An hour later, back in Conner's room, Conner's tears subsided and he lay back on his bed.

"Everyone's downstairs." Ethan informed him.

"I wonder how Cassidy and Devin were able to get off from the show." Conner said.

"Probably got a sub, or the channel's running reruns for the time being." Ethan replied. "…….Kira's here too." Ethan said. Conner sighed.

"She misses my wedding, but shows up for the funeral planning? A little morbid, huh?" Conner said as he stared up at the ceiling.

"What can I say, I've always been a little left of center." Came a voice from the doorway. The two men turned to see Kira standing in the doorway. "I didn't mean to evesdrop." She said. "I was playing with Cadence but she's taking a nap now." She said. She gave Conner a soft smile. "She tuckered herself out. I guess she took after you in the excess energy department." She said.

"Hello, Kira." Conner said dryly. "How's the music biz?" Kira walked into the room.

"It's all right. My record company gave me my own label to sign some artists under."

"I know." Conner said. "Krista read me the article in Entertaimnet Weekly." He said. He sat up. "You might've hated us, but Krista loved your music, Bought all your CDs, watched all your TV appearances."

"Conner, I didn't hate you." Kira said softly. Conner got up.

"Well, sure could of fooled me. I mean, we haven't spoken in ten years. What would you call that?"

"Conner, calm down." Ethan said. Conner ignored him.

"I haven't heard from you in ten years, and now my wife's dead and suddenly you're here?" Conner said. "Why? You want to celebrate?"

"Excuse me?"

"Krista told me what you said to her in the woods that night." Conner said. "She came back from talking to you crying and wouldn't tell any of us why. I took her home, and that's when she told me what you said."

"What are you talking about?" Ethan asked. Kira felt tears welling up in her eyes.

"Ethan, I think I'm going to just go to the inn, I'll call a cab or something." She said. She turned around and left the room. Conner followed. Ethan groaned and went after the two. Kira stormed through the living room, making her way to the door as Conner was on her heels and Ethan on his. Tommy, Cassidy, Devin and Trent all looked up to see what was going on.

"You said to Krista you wished she was dead." Conner spat out. Everyone was taken aback by that. Ethan looked at Kira.

"Is that true?" He asked. Kira sniffled and wiped at the tears that had already begun to fall.

"Yeah, it is true." She said softly. "But that was ten years ago." Kira said, looking at Conner.

"And you never even tried to apologize." Conner said. "Didn't even have the decency to come to our wedding. Didn't bother to see us, offer some sort of congratulations when Cadence was born, avoided us as everyone elses wedding."

"Conner, I really think you should just calm down, man." Devin said. He got up and put a hand on his shoulder. "The past is the past. All that matters is we're all here for you now."

"Yeah, well not me. I never should've come here." Kira said, choking back a sob.

"Kira-" Cassidy said. Kira waved her off dismissively before walking out the front door and slamming it behind her. Tommy sighed and went after her. Kira purposely was walking down the street.

"Kira." Tommy called after her. He jogged after her. "Kira, wait." He said. He grabbed her arm, forcing her to stop.

"For what?" Kira asked. "For Conner and the others to make me feel even worse then I already feel? No thanks." She shook her arm free and kept walking. Tommy sighed.

"Kira, this, all of this, me calling everyone home-it isn't about you. It's about Conner needing everyone's support right now." He said.

"Well, he doesn't want mine." Kira yelled over her shoulder.

"Where are you going?" Tommy asked.

"It doesn't matter!" Kira yelled back. She waved down a cab that was going past and got in. Tommy sighed as he watched the cab drive away with Kira in it.


	4. Emotions Running High

Disclaimer: I only own Cadence McKnight, Maureen and Amos Lawrence, Nadine Banks and Chuck Williams. Everyone else is property of Disney.

Note: Sequel to 'Go be with the girl you love' but it can be read on its own.

Kira sat on her bed at the Inn, staring off into space. It was five hours after she had stormed out of Conner's house and she had spent those five hours just sitting in bed. She felt numb. After a while, there was a knock on her door. Kira sighed and slowly got up and went to the door. She looked out of the peephole and saw Ethan standing there. She opened the door.

"Hey." She said.

"Hey." Ethan responded. He handed her, her bags. "You left these in my car." He said. Kira nodded and took them.

"Thanks." She said. "Do you want to come in?" She asked. Ethan nodded slightly. Kira walked over and set her bags down in a corner of the room. Ethan walked in and shut the door behind him. He just sat there and watched Kira as she began unpacking her things and putting them in the closet. She grabbed her bag of toiletries and went to put them in the bathroom.

"Are we going to talk about what happened?" Ethan finally asked. Kira stepped back and poked her head out of the bathroom.

"What do you mean?" She asked. Ethan sighed and sat down on one of the chairs in the room. Kira knew this-it was Ethan getting into long talk mode. She sighed and set her bag down on the sink counter and walked back into the room, sitting on her bed.

"Kira, you're one of my best friends, you know that, right?" He asked. Kira closed her eyes. She knew what this meant, it was the 'no offense but you royally screwed up' talk.

"Yeah, I do." Kira said.

"And you know Conner is to, right?"

"Yeah, I do."

"And in all the years that I've known you both, I never took sides or stood up for one party throughout any of this." Ethan reminded her.

"Ethan, just spit it out." Kira sighed. Ethan took a deep breath and stood up. He walked over and sat next to her on the bed.

"You fucked up." He said bluntly. Kira's gazed snapped to him.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me." Ethan said. He sighed. "You managed to make this about what happened ten years ago." Kira's jaw tightened. She got up to her feet.

"Wait a second, I was being civil until Conner started attacking me!" Kira exclaimed.

"Conner's wife just died. He's grieving, he's allowed to have emotional outbursts." Ethan replied. Kira glared at him.

"So basically, I should've just stood there and let him say those things?"

"Well you certainly shouldn't have flown off the handle like you did." Ethan stated calmly. Kira's eyes widened.

"Flown off the…Are you shitting me!" Kira shouted. She bit her lip and crossed her arms, forcing herself to calm down. She stared at Ethan. "Since when are you taking sides?" She asked. Ethan didn't respond. "What? So because I said something terrible to Krista while I was drunk ten years ago, I'm public enemy number 1?" Ethan sighed and stood up. He walked over to her and put his hands on her arms. Kira tightened her jaw and looked away.

"Kira, look at me." He said softly. Kira refused to do so. "Come on." Ethan begged. Kira sighed and looked at him, her eyes still containing her anger. "I'm not taking sides." He said. "And you're not public enemy number 1." He assured her. "Look, we were all a little surprised about that, but it's not like we hate you for it. You were upset and drunk, you were blaming Krista for the reason that you were sad, therefore you said it. We get it."

"Well, Conner doesn't seem to-"

"Conner just wants so badly to blame someone for her death."

"And he picked me, wow I feel so special." Kira said sarcastically.

"Kira, you've got to cut him some slack. I mean you cut yourself out of his life for ten years-"

"Yeah, because I was hurting." Kira cut in. She sighed. "I still am."

"…And now you show up after his wife dies, what do you expect him to say?" Ethan continued.

"What, does everyone think I've got some ulterior motives going on here? That I'm just some girl who swoops in and tries to seduce the grieving widower?"

"No, no." Ethan said quickly. "No one thinks that. I don't even think Conner believes that deep down inside. He's just upset. Give him some time, things will get better." Kira shook her head.

"No, I don't think time's going to fix this. I think I was doing the smart thing by nixing all contact with him for ten years." She said softly. Ethan sighed and gave her a look telling her she was wrong. "How about I go back to LA, and come back in ten years and see if things are better? Hmm?" She asked, her tone tinged with sarcasm.

"Kira, you can't leave." Ethan said.

"Yeah? Watch me." Kira challenged.

"No, I mean it, you can't leave." Ethan said. "I drove, remember?" He asked, his eyes sparkling with jocularity, trying to lighten the mood. Kira looked at him and gave a rueful chuckle. She stepped away and sat on her bed. "And don't try the whole bus ticket thing, unless you feel like riding all the way back to LA with a bunch of autograph hounds."

"All right, all right, I get it." Kira said. "I'm pretty much up a creek without a paddle." Kira said. Ethan smirked. He looked at his watch.

"Oh, wow, I promised Maryann I'd call her an hour ago." Ethan said. "She wants to make sure we got here all right." Kira saw the hesitance on his face. He didn't want to leave unless she was all right. Kira gave him a smile.

"Go on, call your wife, I'll be fine." Kira assured him. "Tell her I said hi." She added. Ethan smiled and nodded as he left and went to his room at the Inn. Kira got up and locked the door after he left. She then went back to unpacking her things.


	5. Forgiveness

Disclaimer: I only own Cadence McKnight, Maureen and Amos Lawrence, Nadine Banks and Chuck Williams. Everyone else is property of Disney.

Note: Sequel to 'Go be with the girl you love' but it can be read on its own.

Note 2: Special thanks to Peg for helping me out with my writer's block and writing a little bit-Love ya hun!

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After Kira finished unpacking her things, she went and knocked on Ethan's room. She waited as he came and answered the door.

"Hey, just thought I'd come by and tell you I'm going to go out for a walk." She informed him.

"Oh…Do you want some company?" Ethan asked. Kira saw the receiver lying on his bed, meaning he was still on the phone with Maryann. She gave him a smile.

"No, I'll be fine, just thought I'd let you know, so you're not worried or anything." She said. Ethan nodded.

"All right, well stop by when you get back, will ya? I don't need to be up half the night worrying about you." He said. Kira chuckled.

"Sure thing, _dad_." She said. Ethan rolled his eyes. "I'll see you later." She said as she left.

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Kira walked around Reefside, not really thinking about where she was going, but she somehow ended up in the woods by the museum. She paused, realizing where she was. She smiled softly as she thought back on that day so many years ago when she was there with Conner and Ethan. She slowly walked over to the exact spot where she and Conner fell through into the cave and sat down on the ground.

"_**Freak you out…..Freak you out……Freak you out.." Kira sang softly as they walked around the underground tunnel.**_

"_**Babe, can you keep it down? I'm trying to focus here." Conner sighed. Kira glared at the young man, her eyes burning with hatred.**_

"_**Did you just call me babe?" She turned to Ethan. "Did he just call me babe?" Ethan shrugged.**_

"_**I don't know. I wasn't listening. I was still grooving to your tune." He replied. **_

Kira was startled out of her thoughts as she heard footsteps approaching her. Kira quickly jumped up to her feet. Expecting some crazed weirdo or a member of the paparazzi who had somehow tracked her down and followed her, Kira quickly hid behind a tree. She peaked out from the side as a figure appeared and walked over to the spot where she had just been. Kira decided it was just best to leave. She turned and slowly left.

"Kira?" She heard the person call after her. Kira quickened her pace as she heard the person following her.

"Look pal, I don't know how much whatever tabloid it is this week is paying you, but I'm so not in the mood, so back off!" She snarled. She felt the person grab her arm to turn her around. Kira spun back and reeled her free fist back. She released, letting her fist connect with her pursuer's nose.

"Agh!" The guy exclaimed, releasing her and stumbling back. Kira turned around and went to leave.

"If you even try to sue, I'll tell 'em you grabbed me."

"Wasn't thinking of suing you." The person replied. "What kind of friend would that make me?" Kira's brow furrowed as she spun around. There was more light where they were now and Kira could now see Conner standing there, his hands cupped over his nose. Kira gasped.

"Conner! Oh my god, I'm so sorry! I had no idea.." She rushed over to him. "Are you okay? Did….Did I break it?" She asked.

"No." Conner said. He put his hands down and scrunched up his nose a bit. "Nothing's broken, just a little sore."

"I'm so sorry; I didn't know it was you, honestly." Kira said. Conner looked at her.

"Hey, it's my fault for just grabbing you like that." He said. Once she received confirmation that he was all right she took a few steps back, not wanting to be too close to him. Conner noticed this.

"I just..." He began to say, but stopped when he realized he wasn't sure what to say. He shrugged. "Sometimes I come out here……You know…….To think." He said. Kira nodded.

"Where's your daughter?" She asked.

"She's staying with Krista's parents for the night." Conner said. At the mention of Conner's deceased wife, Kira couldn't help but look down.

"I…..I'm sorry……About what I said to Krista that night……….I mean, I didn't mean it, I was just….Upset, ya know?" Kira said, kicking at some loose clumps of dirt with the toe of her shoe. She sighed. "If you want me to like……keep my distance, I will. I mean, I can't exactly go back to LA without Ethan, but I-"

"Kira." Conner said, cutting her off. She looked at him. "I never wanted you to 'keep your distance'. Not these last ten years, not now." He said. "You were one of my best friends. Do you have any idea how I felt when you didn't even come to my wedding? Or how I felt when Krista told me she was pregnant, and I was able to call everyone and tell them the good news, except you?" He asked. Kira bit her lip and shifted her eyes so she wasn't looking at him. There were so many responses that were on the tip of her tongue, but she thought back on what Ethan said to her earlier and decided to stay silent. "I shouldn't have blown up at you like that earlier today." He apologized. "I guess I was just so angry and upset and I wanted so badly to just find someone to direct that to-"

"And I provided a good target, I get it." Kira said, her tone a little icy. She pursed her lips and closed her eyes. "I'm sorry." She said. Conner shook his head. "I'm the one who should be apologizing. I'm sorry Kira.. I sorry that you thought that things should have been different, and I'm sorry that I blamed you for Krista dying..." He trailed off. He looked down. The two were silent for a while.

"………So……To recap, we're both sorry?" Kira asked. Conner chuckled. He went over and pulled Kira into a hug. Kira was so taken off guard by this that she just stood there for a bit before raising her arms and hugging him back. It had been ten years since they had been this close, let alone hugged, and it felt good. Not just because of the romantic feelings she had for him, but because he had been one of her best friends and she did miss not seeing or talking to him all this time. They stood there for a while, hugging, as if they thought that it was making up for the last ten years. They then slowly pulled apart. They made their way back to where they had fallen through to the underground cave over a decade ago and sat down.

"So, did you ever bring Krista here?" Kira asked. Conner nodded.

"Once." He said. Kira looked at him. Conner understood the look. "No, I never told her about its significance." He said. "Just told her that I liked the quietness and serenity……Which is partly true." Kira nodded.

"Yeah, it is nice here." She said softly. The two stared up at the sky, watching the stars. Kira turned her head and looked at Conner. "Cadence is really beautiful." She said softly.

"Yeah, thank goodness she took more after her mother. Can you imagine my features on Cadence?" He asked. Kira laughed.

"Oh yeah, she would've been hideous. Thank goodness she looks nothing like you." Kira teased.

"Ha, ha, very funny." Conner said dryly. The two fell into a comfortable silence. "I'm actually glad I ran into you out here." He said, breaking the silence. "I wanted to thank you, for what you said to Cadie."

"What do you mean?" Kira asked. Conner looked at her.

"Well, after everyone left, I was just looking over some old pictures of me and Krista—Wedding photos, pictures of when Cadie was born, and I just…….Started like, bawling. And Cadie comes in and sits next to me, and do you know what she says? She says 'daddy, don't be sad….Mommy's playing with the angels.' I asked her what made her say that, and she told me 'Auntie Kira told me that.'." He gave Kira a small smile. "I just wanted to thank you for giving her something, ya know? I mean, ever since Krista died, I've been trying to come up with a way to explain to Cadie why her mother isn't around anymore, but I didn't know how." Kira returned his smile.

"I'm glad I could help." She said. "I remember when I was really young, I think a little bit younger than Cadie, my great grandmother passed away, and I didn't understand why my grandma and my mom were all sad and why we weren't going to be visiting her anymore, and my dad told me that because my great grandmother was so nice and everything, the angels wanted her to be their friend and wanted her to knit them her amazing sweaters and everything, so I just held onto that. Then when I was around fifteen, my grandmother died and one of my younger cousins kind of didn't get what was going on and I just told him what my dad told me when I was little—The angels wanted her to come up and be their friend, and bake them her famous chocolate chip and oatmeal cookies. So today, when Cadie asked Cassidy why you were upset and why Krista wasn't around, I just remembered that and told it to her." Conner smiled.

"Thanks." He said.

"Your welcome. I'm surprised Cadie's already calling me 'auntie'. I mean, she just met me today."

"What can I say; my daughter latches on to anyone who spends more than fifteen minutes with her." He said lovingly of his daughter. "She loves attention, she loves people."

"A perfect mixture of her parents—your attention seeking, and Krista's warmth." Kira said, thinking back on that night during the graduation bonfire. Krista could've just walked away when she saw her with Derek, but she stepped in and did something about it because she knew Kira wasn't in the right state of mind. She kept trying to get through to Kira, to make things better—even to the point of saying she'd break up with Conner if it meant that Kira would talk to him. Looking back, Kira regretted being so stubborn and not accepting Krista's attempts to reaching out to her, and now it was too late.

"Regret's a powerful thing." Conner said, as if reading Kira's mind. She looked at him. "Your tone, it screamed of 'I wish I did something differently'." He explained. Kira nodded. She sighed.

"I just………Krista was a great person, I mean, she was kind, had a mind of her own, fought for what she believed in, and I just……I mean she was so nice to me and I was just so evil to her."

"Krista never blamed you for anything. I mean, I'll admit, when you didn't even speak to us at everyone else's wedding, and didn't come to our wedding, I wasn't exactly thinking too highly of you, but Krista," Conner said, pausing, thinking about his wife. "She never jumped in on that train of thought. She was so proud of you with all your success. Whenever I asked her why she cared so much, she'd tell me that you had a dream of becoming a professional musician, and you achieved it. You didn't compromise yourself or anything, and for that she was proud of you, even if you didn't know it." Kira looked down; she could feel tears stinging her eyes.

"I'm sorry. I should've called you guys. I should've come to your wedding—it shouldn't have taken me this long to quit being a pigheaded moron." She said, her voice cracking as she tried to hold in the tears that were coming from what Conner said to her. Conner shifted closer to her and put his arms around her shoulders, squeezing her close comfortingly, as if to tell her he forgave her.

"It's okay." He said softly. Kira sniffled and wiped at the few tears that had escaped. She looked at her watch.

"Wow, it's late. I should probably get back to the Inn; I don't want Ethan to be worried." She said. She got up and dusted the back of her pants. She stretched her hand out to Conner and helped him up to his feet.

"Let me walk you back, I mean what if the next time some one grabs you it actually is the paparazzi." Conner teased. Kira laughed and accepted his offer. The two walked out of the woods and towards the Inn.


End file.
